South Africa - November 2022

A report by an independent panel of legal experts commissioned by the National Assembly, has found that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa may have violated the constitution and anti-corruption laws by allegedly covering up the theft of large sums of money from his game farm in a scandal commonly referred to as ‘Farmgate’. Ramaphosa responded to the report (released on 30 November) by denying that he was guilty of any of the allegations made against him. The panel’s findings open up the possibility of impeachment proceedings being brought against the President by the National Assembly, the lower house of South Africa’s parliament, although legislators are not bound by the report. The commencement of such proceedings would require a simple majority in the National Assembly, where the President’s party, the African National Congress, holds 230 out of the 400 seats.  

Sources: Report of the Section 89 Independent Panel, Africa Confidential, The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa, The Africa Report